AUSTIN, TX – Texas Secretary of State Jane Nelson announced the completion of a statewide citizenship verification effort, identifying 2,724 potential noncitizens registered to vote.
The review, made possible by the Trump administration’s decision to grant states free and direct access to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services’ SAVE database, compared Texas’s 18 million registered voters against federal citizenship records. The Secretary of State’s Office (SOS) has since forwarded flagged records to county officials for further investigation under Chapter 16 of the Texas Election Code.
County voter registrars are required to send notices to the identified individuals, who will have 30 days to provide proof of U.S. citizenship. Failure to respond may result in cancellation of voter registration. If cancelled in error, voters may reinstate their registration by presenting proof of citizenship to election officials or at polling places.
Those ultimately determined to be noncitizens who cast ballots will be referred to the Texas Office of the Attorney General for further action.
Earlier this year, Texas became one of the first states to partner with USCIS on this type of review, initially focusing on potential illegal voting in the November 2024 election. That investigation led to 33 referrals in June.
A county-level breakdown of the new data has been made available by the Secretary of State’s Office.
